Legally Kidnapped

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

The man told officers that he had visited the shop and began complaining to his friend, saying that Child Protective Services had "kidnapped" his kids. The friend, a man unidentified in reports, said that "most people deserve to have their children taken away."

A former state lawmaker was wrong to tell two foster daughters he could help them make money by selling their reproductive eggs, but his physical examinations of the girls did not amount to rape, his defense lawyer said Tuesday as the trial opened.

Anyway, adoption blogs, doesn't like this blog and has tried to lable us as a spammer, so clicking on the link may not work. Simply copy and paste the link into your browser and it should get you there.

On October 12, 2007, experts in the field of psychiatry and child development from all over the world arrived in Washington to attend the annual conference of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology. This year's conference focused on one specific goal - to end the mass-prescribing of psychiatric drugs to children.

Today, Craig A. Ferguson, 34, a child-protective services employee for the city of Richmond, waived a preliminary hearing in Goochland Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. His case will go to a grand jury on Dec. 11.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

As devoted foster parents, Vincent and Pauline Matherick have provided a stable family home for almost 30 vulnerable children. But the couple’s latest foster son is being taken away from them by social workers because they have refused to promote homosexuality.

“Supervisory file reviews continued to reflect her inability to distinguish the appropriate allegations to investigate,” the report reads. “Specific instructions provided in supervisory file reviews were not acknowledged nor followed.”

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Traditionally, relations between ACS and the police have been contentious. According to the Daily News, confidentiality laws have prevented caseworkers from sharing a family's history with police, and cops are rarely (if ever) called should a caseworker find something suspicious about a child's family situation. Now, the investigative consultants will train caseworkers to probe deeper when checking up on children's welfare and for the time being will assist them by doing legwork in locating individuals.

Florida's Department of Children & Families reached a $10 million settlement Monday with the adoptive parents of three brothers who endured neglect from their own parents, sexual abuse at the hands of a foster father and punishment that included being placed in a backyard chicken coop.

Caseworkers in this city routinely rushed child abuse investigations to closure to improve performance numbers, and the shoddy work may be linked to the deaths of at least two children, state officials said.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Note: I will publish articles like this from time to time, because one of the big problems with the foster care system is the over-medication and misdiagnosis of children in the system. Usually they medicate them to keep them submissive.

ADHD Tip - Will More Medication Always Be The Answer To Treat Symptoms That Still Persist In ADHD?By Rory F. Stern, PsyD

There I was watching television one afternoon, and a commercial came on that reported, "X% of people who suffer from depression and take medication, continue to experience symptoms of depression."

I was on the edge of my seat... I couldn't believe it!

Were they finally going to suggest other treatment besides medication? Was someone going to finally blow the lid on treatment and actually suggest the importance of therapy and better understanding the behaviors?

All that excitement was suddenly lost the moment I heard the commercial recommend the need and use of additional medications.

I felt deflated...

It just didn't make sense.

"Treat ongoing symptoms of depression with more medication instead of going after the root cause," I asked myself?

That was the last straw.

What does this mean for ADHD?

Like depression, ADHD is thought to be biologically based. Research has suggested, and theorists believe, that there are abnormalities with the absorption of chemicals and neurotransmitters in the brain that lead to behaviors like we see in ADHD and depression.

This is one major reason why prescribing medication is often a first step for the individual diagnosed with ADHD.

Medications are specifically engineered and researched to target these specific chemicals and neurotransmitters in the brain to aide in the process.

Yet, many people with ADHD still experience symptoms of the disorder even while taking their prescribed medications.

Ask yourself what else might be going on?

While I am no expert on medication and how the brain functions, I can tell you that if your medication is not addressing the symptoms you are struggling with, then you really owe it to yourself to ask what else might be going on.

Can medications make a difference? Yes, absolutely.

But at the same time, disorders like ADHD and depression also have a very strong and powerful emotional or psychological component.

And while there is no set standard for what might happening, there has been a theme to suggest that the events in our lives, and those immediately around us can contribute to how we behave and interact with the world.

This is particularly true in children and adolescents.

Does this account for ADHD? Maybe yes, maybe no. But, I can guarantee you that regardless of the presence or absence of a disorder, we are all affected by our environment and what we are experiencing.

Disclaimer: In any discussion of medication, I feel it is of critical importance to remind you that any and all medical and mental health decisions continue to be made with your or your child's physician, psychiatrist, or therapist who is an expert in ADHD.----To learn more about ADHD and what might really be impacting your child, I invite you to visit and sign up for your 7 part mini-course on the dirty little secrets behind ADHD.I would also like to invite you to ask your most pressing question about ADHD and how it could be affecting your family and your child.

Becki Jasinski says her 9-year-old son Nicholas did not have to die if Child Protective Services and Friend of the Court would have removed him from the Douglass Township home where he lived with an "abusive" father.

New York -- Administration for Children’s Services Commissioner John Mattingly “Friday presided over the graduation of 448 new Child Protective Specialists at a special ceremony at Hunter College’s Brookdale Campus, bringing the total number of ACS frontline caseworkers and other child welfare investigators to nearly 1,300.

Munchausen Syndrome is distinct from hypochondria in that the patient is aware that he is exaggerating, while sufferers of hypochondria actually believe they have a disease. Munchausen Syndrome is currently a topic of intense interest. People with this syndrome deliberately produce or exaggerate symptoms in several ways. They might lie about or fake symptoms, hurt themselves to bring on symptoms, or alter diagnostic tests (such as contaminating a urine sample). Signs of Munchausen syndrome include is dramatic but inconsistent medical history. Presence of symptoms only when the patient is alone or not being observed and willingness or eagerness to have medical tests. The most cause of Munchausen syndrome is biological, psychological factors and personality disorders. Munchausen syndrome afflicts the patient who presents with the complaint. Munchausen syndrome by proxy involves inflicting injury on a child or other dependent person in order to simulate symptoms. Treatment of Munchausen syndrome is often difficult, and there are no standard treatments for the condition. Treatment generally includes psychotherapy and behavior counseling.

Causes of Munchausen Syndrome

Common causes and Risk factors of Munchausen Syndrome

Biological factors.

Psychological factors.

A history of abuse or neglect as a child.

Personality disorders.

Signs and Symptoms of Munchausen Syndrome

Common Sign and Symptoms of Munchausen Syndrome

Sleep apnea.

Fever.

Vomiting.

Poorly formed identity and severe problems with self-esteem.

Dramatic stories about numerous medical problems.

Treatment of Munchausen Syndrome

Common Treatment of Munchausen Syndrome

Nonconfrontational intervention may help people with Munchausen.

Treatment generally includes psychotherapy and behavior counseling. If possible, family therapy also may be suggested.

Monitor ongoing medical care usage by involving people or institutions outside the medical practice to alert the physician gatekeeper about health care issues.

A state employee whom Gov. Blagojevich once outed as a subject of a federal probe into his administration's hiring practices is now being promoted to a top job within the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

Robin Staggers once was accused by a subordinate of creating "a culture of intimidation" within DCFS' human resources department

The desperate mum, who alleges her daughter threatened to kill her and battered her so severely on one occasion that she had to go to hospital, believes the Government has taken away the rights of parents to discipline their kids when they misbehave.

A Florida Department of Children and Families review released today that shows widespread deficiencies in child safety programs and a need for better management in Southwest Florida has led to the resignation of one top administrator and the demotion of another.

There should be deep concern but very little surprise that almost half the people in Scotland are deterred from working with children by the fear of being accused of harming them. The report by the Children's Commissioner cites the compensation culture and the worry about being falsely accused of abuse for the reluctance of so many people to contribute to the educational and social wellbeing of tomorrow's adults.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

glitches and crashes have become so persistent and severe that some counties might refuse to make the switch from their own systems to the new statewide network, which is supposed to keep Ohio's abused and neglected children safer.

Two WIS News 10 investigations have overlapped. We've been telling you about the Lexington County neighborhood on high alert - because of a 10-year-old boy who lives there, accused of molesting children.

Now we have new information about that case. Plus, WIS News 10 has uncovered that the family of the 10-year-old has been taking care of a baby involved in a different abuse case.

This is the visitation room that parents can visit their children while they are in the CAS. Other wise known as the 'fish bowl'. There are audio recording devises and workers behind the mirror. The parent will not be allowed to hug their child and whisper to them that they love them, the visit will be severed. This sever restriction is done even if the parent has not abused the child. As it was noted in my case by the CAS, the Children have not been abused by the their mother. This is done to separate and isolate the child to make them feel abandoned by the parent to make them easier to handle while in the CAS 'care.' This is child cruelty.

Interview with ex- Children's Aid worker. This ex-Children's Aid worker states that he did not just leave the CAS he, "ran for my life". He states that he did not believe in everything he was doing and can't do a job that he does not believe in. This man says that he is helping people now instead of breaking up families. This ex worker claims that there is no accountability in the system.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

"They said that because the baby had never lived in a family unit, she didn't have a bond with us so it didn't matter if she was taken away," says Goodwin. "I don't know where she is now and I'm not entitled to know."

There's new information tonight on foster mother accused of murdering a toddler in her care. 2 Year old Alize Vick was found unconscious Tuesday at the El Paso County home of Jules Cuneo. Cuneo was her foster mother, who later admitted to investigators that she threw the little girl. Alize died a day later.

We are taking years of research and combining all we know to create evidence-based therapies, said Wendy J. Nilsen, Ph.D., assistant professor in psychiatry and principal investigator of the project. This will be state-of-the-art science used to change people's lives.

After leaving foster care, many children end up homeless, without adequate access to health care, warn researchers in a report published this week in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Israel is prohibiting her return, even for a visit. She made the mistake of her life when she went to Jordan to visit her ailing mother, and now she cannot return. Her six children keep asking about their mother, speak to her by phone every few hours, and the text messages also fly back and forth - "Where are you?" and "What are you doing?"

Ex-DCF employee gets three years in prisonAbout seven months after trying to set up a sexual meeting with an FBI agent posing as 13-year-old girl, a former Florida Department of Children and Families investigator from Fort Myers found out Thursday he'll be spending the next three years in federal prison.

Nearly three years after Connre Dixon was fatally stabbed by her foster father, a judge ruled the money awarded by a jury to her estate should be significantly reduced, because there was no evidence she suffered as she bled to death in the Ridgefield Township barn.

Overcoming Media Sensationalism: Finding Calm In A World Of Irrational Fears

The media and the modern world both seem to be incredibly adept at inspiring fear and anxiety in people. Between reports of possible terrorist threats to the mundane possibility that your food could carry several bacterial infections, it can be very hard to find anything that can't be connected with something unpleasant. All of this paranoia and anxiety can sometimes take a toll on a person's mental health, even if the effects aren't particularly obvious. This serves quite an amazing contrast with some many people espousing the message of “living life to the fullest” filling the airwaves. Of course, nobody really seems to have paid that much attention to how, exactly, to carry that out in today's environment.

The fact is, there are a lot of things that can cause fear and anxiety in the world. However, it should be kept in mind that people have been living and dealing with those problems for thousands of years. Europe had to endure the widespread infection remembered as the “Black Plague” and eventually recovered. The Chinese have carried themselves well through the turmoil and self-destruction of countless periods when the country was divided into warring states. The honest truth here is that, for the sake of your mental health if nothing else, you should just try not to worry too much. There is a certain level of risk that is to be associated with pretty much anything, but that doesn't mean those things should not be done.

There is no argument that the media has some influence over the mental health of people, although just how much is something left to speculation. There are some that theorize that, with the right combination of fear and anxiety caused by the media and environmental conditions, people can become exceedingly paranoid. We've already seen a large number of people being swayed into conformity by the media, while those who are unable to begin to develop either social anxiety or status anxiety. However, as stated, the media is not the only factor in the formation of these problems. Other influences can be used to aggravate or counterbalance the influence gained from TV and video games, depending on certain circumstances.

People today should learn not to worry about things so much, particularly as so many of the threats the media talks about are highly unlikely. For example, you're less likely to get killed during a shark attack (like what you see in movies like “Jaws”) than you are to get hit by lightning. Incidentally, the anxiety people feel during a lightning storm is more or less unwarranted, as you're more likely to slip in the bathroom than be struck by lightning. Unless you were stupid enough to walk with some sort of lightning rod on you, anyway. If you take the time to study the chances of things happening, you'll realize that they're not all that common. Most people can go through their entire lives without anything disastrous or traumatizing happening to them, which makes the ones that do and survive such special cases.

That's exactly what the media is showing people, the special cases. If people getting hit by lightning or getting an infection of flesh-eating bacteria were as common as most people assumed, then there would be no point in reporting it in the news. Just because the media has fallen into bouts of sensationalism and would rather spread fear and anxiety than show a balanced report is their fault. For the sake of your mental health and the mental health of those around you, be sure to take the time to strike the balance.----DrugstoreTM.com is a reputable online drug store. From sexual health to a woman's health, sleeping aids to weight loss pills, our online pharmacy offers convenient customer access to various health medicines, including an array of health product and medicare prescription drug.Buy SomaBuy Tramadol

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Two highly paid DCF managers in Central Florida are under investigation for using a state-issued credit card to buy personal items. One of them could face criminal charges. Now, the state agency is taking a closer look at the expense reports of all Central Florida DCF employees.

The state has paid $425,000 to settle lawsuits by two former Northern Kentucky social workers who claim supervisors pressured them to ignore suspected child abuse and neglect in order to close cases faster and speed up adoptions.

The mother of a child molestation victim has filed a civil lawsuit against the former employers of Cory Heinzman, who was a Child Protective Services caseworker. He was found guilty in June of 17 sex-related charges.

DELAND -- Former foster parent Robert Clinton of Deltona was branded a sexual predator and sentenced to life in prison Friday morning for molesting a 3-year-old foster child in his care and posting photographs of the acts on the Internet.

A new Utah law that does away with emergency placement of abused or neglected children with relatives is sharpening criticism from two national child-protection advocacy groups and fraying family ties of those caught in the middle.

This is our story of what happened to myself Dale Dupree & Vanessa Dupree of Harrisburg Pa. We decided to adopt children after two of our three left home, one relocated to Dover Delaware and the other went off to college. My wife and I agreed that we wanted to help where help was needed the most, so we went through all the training required by law in Pennsylvania and Dauphin County.

The agency we chose to assist us is called Rejoice Adoption & Foster Care Agency. They showed us many children's photos and background information of each child. We chose a cute little girl named Kanai Brown from Ohio. We knew she had some problems, her former foster mother had in her report of her ,lying,stealing and setting fires. She had also been in foster care since age 2, she was at that time in a foster care home where her foster mother had adopted her biological brother but refused to adopt her due to her behavior problems. A month before meeting Kanai she was matched for adoption with another family. She was taken home with that family on two weekend visits, and they changed their minds one day before she was to go live with them for good, so we knew she had some problems.

Our intentions at that time was to adopt Kanai and then adopt her older 13-year old sister named Kimmisa soon after that. After Kanai had been with us about 3 months, in September 2004 we made contact with the Ohio about adopting Kimmisa: at that time Mr.John Roberts her caseworker had informed me that Kimmisa had recently attacked a foster parent in the home which she was staying in and could not be placed in a home at this time and that she was currently being evaluated for mental problems. So that was as far as we had gone with trying to unify the two sisters (there are 5 siblings in all).

Our adoption hearing for Kanai came up about 3 months later in January 2005; adoption was final in June of 2005. In June of 2005 we received two more foster children named Mariah and Jordan Gilbert, ages 9 and 4 from Lancaster Pa. We were willing to adopt them for as long as their mother Nyshell Gilbert was willing to give up custody, the children's caseworker was a lady named Karen Rosenberg. Karen by law was supposed to stop by our house once per month for home visits to check on the children, but at the time she had classes here in Harrisburg two to three times per week and would visit us once or twice per week. We all became very good friends at that time.

In September of 2005 Ms. Nyshell had a hearing to have her rights terminated by Lancaster County Children and Youth. Karen told us it was okay for us to come, so we did. Karen got up on the stand and talked about how Ms. Nyshell refused to take care of herself or her children. She also pointed out the fact that she had a gay relationship with another female. About three days later Karen came to our house and we talked about the hearing. She then told us that most of what she said in court was made up stories, things that just never happened and the real reason why Ms Nyshell had her kids taken was because she was and still is gay and she stated that the Judge knew the real reason also. My wife and I were very troubled by this and we then asked a few more questions about Ms Nyshell. Karen Rosenberg also confided in us that she does not believe that any child should grow up in a house with two same sex parents and to make sure Ms. Nyshell loses her case, she would always ask her where she was working, and then call that employer and tell them she is a convicted child abuser and of course, she will then be laid off or fired right before every hearing, which was a lie she was never a convicted child abuser.

The way Ms. Nyshell originally got involved with Lancaster County Children and Youth ,she was seeking counseling services for her oldest daughter after having being raped by a grown man. Police advised her to do so when Karen first got involved in the case she quickly noted that Ms. Nyshell had an adult female living inside the home. There were also four kids living in the home. Nariah and Hordan were the two youngest ones she (Karen Rosenberg) told us she tried to get the other two older kids to say mom had hit them but it was to difficult. Neither was willing to lie on their mother even after several interviews, so she had six year old Nariah agree to a make up story about her mother hitting her with a strap so Karen used this as her reason for pulling all four children out of the home even though the older two always stuck to their story, that never hit anyone.

Over the next couple of months Karen confided these and many other cases where they would force parents to confess to things they did not do in exchange for visits with their children and then kept them because of their confessions. In January 2006 we told Karen we were having second thoughts about adopting Nariah kordan due to the fact that we believed they were wrongfully taken from their and we just did not feel good about going through with it and to us this is a lifetime decision. We just did not see anything wrong with her raising her kids with a girlfriend, although we (Karen, my wife and I) are all Christian, we disagreed on that one issue. Over the next month she came by a few extra times and tried to convince us to change our minds, even though we loved the kids just as much as our very own; we still told her no.

In February 2006 the children were scheduled for their last and final visit with their mother, which was to be held at Rejoice Foster Care & Adoption agency and be supervised by caseworkers employed by Rejoice. Karen was never involved with the kids visits with their mother, so we did not expect this time to be any different. We dropped the kids off at Rejoice that evening, handed them over to a Rejoice caseworker as usual. We came back two hours later and were told by Karen Rosenberg that Nariah said she was hit with a strap by my wife Vanessa, so therefore she is taking both kids out of our home. We were very upset because she told us she had used the exact same story on Ms Nyshell.

The following day, February 15, 2006 Karen Rosenberg reported the abuse allegations to Dauphin County Children & Youth to a caseworker named Denise Shay. She then came by Kanai's school that day to interview her. She was asked all kinds of questions, mostly about us (we know this because after every interview she would come home and let us know). After 8-10 interviews in March 2006 we went to school to pick up Kanai and were met by Denise Shay in the parking lot . She told us that Kanai said my wife and I hit her with a strap on at least one occasion; therefore she was taking Kanai into custody. She also informed us there would be a hearing tomorrow before a Master Judge. We found an attorney that evening, Mr Roger Luguana. There was not a lot to say at the hearing because Kanai admitted in court she lied, there the Judge said she is to be returned home immediately.

Once the hearing was over , Denise Shay took Kanai and told us she will be right back, she was going to get her clothes and book bag. She came back out some 30 minutes later and informed us they were going to appeal and Kanai would not be coming home with us until the appeal is over ( even though prior to the hearing we were told the Master Judge decision was final). At that time Denise Shay evidently went to a different judge and claimed I admitted in the Lancaster case to punching kordan (which was a lie). All of this was done after our attorney had left.

Over the next couple of weeks we were asked to confess to abusing Kanai in exchange for visits with her - we refused. About three weeks later the county judge, Judge Hoover agreed to meet with our lawyer Roger Luguana, but he refused to meet with us. After that meeting Judge Hoover allowed us to have visits with Kanai. We went to see her twice that week and then I received a call from Denise Shay on our answering machine stating that we were not being very cooperative with their investigation or in other words we refused to admit to anything we did not do, so therefore the visits must stop.

Prior to our next hearing in March 2006, my wife and I received only a couple of phone calls and went down there to sign papers a couple of times for Dauphin County Children and Youth,but every time we were always being told some sort of bad news. We were told the following things would happen if we lost: 1. They would ask the judge at that time to take Jasmin, our biological 15 year old daughter into care/custody. 2. We could never pass a background check again so that meant changing for me and my wife. 3. We would have criminal charges brought against us after that. 4. If we just sign her over none of those three would happen and we will have 30 days to think it or change our minds if we wanted to. Denise also said Karen would be there to let the court know we confessed to her everything, thus letting us know that Karen was willing to lie in court again as she did in Ms. Nyshell Gilbert's case. Therefore we choose to sign Kanai over giving up our rights, prior to our hearing, knowing we had 30 days to decide if we were going to risk everything or not.

Twenty-eight days later we (our lawyer and us) filled out the paperwork to let the court know we had change our minds. About two weeks later in March 2006 Judge Hoover agreed to meet with our attorney again. At this meeting our attorney was informed we could not change our minds and we had to stick with our first decision where we must sign her over again, but this time the forms will read "by mutual agreement", unlike the first one that stated there was a hearing and we were convicted even though there was no hearing. Even going as far as to give us only 30 days to sign her over again. We waited about 60 days on July 26 2006 to sign her over again, due to the simply fact it's getting very costly, about 15,000.00 so far between child support payments for Kanai while back in foster care and attorney fees, for all three children. The worst part of it was here in Dauphin County they attach our wages, even though we were never late with a payment. They kept making the same mistake with the amounts, instead of taking out $800.00 per month, they kept doubling and tripling that amount, thus leaving us at times with less than $20.00 per week.

Dauphin County is not a good place to adopt.----Dale Dupree Former pro boxer and Delaware state champion, who enjoys helping others obtain their goals in any sport, or personal activities. We (myself and wife Vanessa) have trained many atheltes from track, football, boxing and have always enjoyed it, And even traveled cross country to train people for particular sporting events, as well as trained those who just couldn't get over the hump and wanted to meet a personal goal. Myself and my wife Vanessa (Certified Personal Trainer) we work as a team to put together a workout plan and diet and exercise program, that sometimes may include us coming to your town and working out with you at a location close to your home or on even at your home. to join our membership team at: www.daleandvanessa.com , please be sure to watch the five minute movie and leave your name and email address or email me at: thebrowns@winningwithcoastal.com we also provide personal training one on one or one on two (husband and wife)if you choose. Most of our workouts and diets are delivered directly to your email box. www.vanessaANDdale.com, 1-800-608-1869

About the Author

A native of Harrisburg Pa former professional boxer,and one time Delaware State Champion, today I enjoy the role I play in helping others reach for their dreams. I have trained many people from almost every sport such as football, track, tennis, soccer, boxing. We also help those that just want to be a certain size by a certain date, and we take a lot of pride in being able to say "we always meet the needs of all of our clients"! Anyone

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